Of Gold and Blood Red Eyes
by skullcandyklive
Summary: Arthur was one of the deadliest assassins who retired from at the age of 17 in order to start anew, so what will happen when an attempt to save 3 new members of his guild forces him to relive the life he once had? Will he join the revolution as a Night Raid assassin and relive his former life or will he continue the pretense of living the normal civilian life as a guild master?
1. Kill The King

**Chapter 1: Kill the King**

 **...**

 **...**

 **(Imperial Capital Trading Canals and Port, Imperial year 1024, Day 9, late afternoon, 4:00 PM)**

The imperial capital's trading canals and port was almost always the busiest part of the capital, always buzzing with the calls of merchants on their boats and conversations of haggling by the would-be customers, and today was no exception. An abundance of merchant trading boats that each displayed a wide array of merchendise were slowly making their way through the canals, while also calling out to potential customers and clients that walked by the sidelines.

These canals make up the roads and streets of this district and on its sides were several shops and boutiques, where more permanent settlers may sell their wares. Of course, the only was to get around this part of the capital is by taking a boat ride from the ferrymen.

At the port, several large galleon trading ships that were each filled with crew members, who were hefting massive crates full of merchendise, were docked.

As a general rule each trading ship was marked with the owner's insignia to indicate who it belongs to and while some of these ships are owned by large merchant groups or illegal crime syndicates, a vast majority of them were owned by a single indivdual, as indicated by the fact that most of the ships had the same insignia that stood out in the varnished wood.

An intricate golden heart symbol that was decorated by various golden swirls and curves surrounding it, making a very intricate symetrical insignia.

Watching over the flow of events from the dock with an emotionless and calculating look was a young teenage boy with soft girlish features.

He had long unruly Honey-gold blonde hair that flowed in the breeze, royal purple eyes, and pale white skin. He was wearing a golden cloak with the hood down over a gold vest-like garment with intricate purple embroidery that hugged his figure, shorts of the same color with a purple sash tied around his waist, a pair of sturdy brown sandals with several straps and gold fingerless gloves that had the same purple embroidery.

As he watched the unloading of his trading ships, he brought out a large wooden abacus and started fiddling with it, mentally performing several calculations and plans.

It was just the way he was, but he assumed that every other merchant was probably thinking along the same lines.

Granted, not all of them would do so with legal and non-swindling means, like he did.

He shook his head to clear his mind of such thoughts. He was getting distracted from the task at hand.

"Thinking about the illegality of some merchants' trade will not yield me any profit, gain or benefit whatsoever and is a complete waste of time and effort, I must focus on allocating these supplies for maximum profit and gain." He said to himself emotionlessly in a slightly high pubscent voice, as he focused on his task at hand.

By the time his crew had managed to unload the supplies from the galleon ship, he had calculated the most optimal and profitable trade routes for every individual merchandise he owned.

He also managed to contact the members of his guild who operated the merchant boats, stalls, and boutiques that he owned, as well as, devise detailed individual instructions for each and every one of them.

He was beyond meticulous when it comes to his finances and assets, so he wanted to make sure that he made the most profit out of what he had.

For a boy of his early age, he was unusually successful with finance, since he owned a vast legal trading network with several businesses, merchant boats and trading ships.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw a crew member approach him.

Without looking up from his abacus, he addressed the man with his usual way of greeting.

"How's the business?" He said emotionlessly.

"Lord Arthur, the supplies have all been unloaded onto the docks and are currently being distributed to your various guild members, sir!" Reported a crew with a salute.

He looked up at the dock, where several merchant guild members were loading the crates onto their boats, before looking back to the man in front of him.

It felt a little weird for a teenage boy like him to be called 'Lord' and 'Sir' by a man who was clearly two times older than him.

He mentally sighed, but he knew from experience that telling any of his crew to drop the formalities would be a waste of time and effort. Also, he would have little profit/gain/benefit if he pressed the matter further and it was their choice anyway.

"Very good, there's a feast waiting for all of you in our guild hall. I expect you all to be ready to set sail tomorrow morning at dawn, understood?" He said, while looking at the man, who looked incredibly eager for some reason.

"Yes, Lord Arthur. We'll make sure of that and if I may say so, you are incredibly generous, Lord Arthur and we are grateful for this feast that you're holding for us" said the man gratefully with murmured assessment from the other crew members.

Arthur maintained his emotionless expression as he said this.

"It would be wiser to ensure that all of you are capable of acting at your full capacities, before you set sail, as it would not only increase your overall efficiency, but save time and money as well, which would, ultimately, lead to more opportunities for expanding my trade network and selling these items for the most profit. In other words, I'm doing this because it is the most optimal and profitable course of action." Arthur clarified with an emotionless tone, which only caused the crew members to laugh and shake their heads in exasperation knowingly.

Evidently, this isn't the first time they've encountered this response, but they didn't seem to mind either way.

"Be that as it may, we are very gratefully" the crew member repeated.

"Mhm" Arthur only nodded, before the crew all headed to their guild hall.

It was definitely odd for a teenage boy to have his own trading guild and guild hall, but, in his opinion, it was the most convenient way for him to gather and/or meet up with all of the people that were under his employ.

Since it also served as a place that attracted would-be customer, as well as, potential new employees and workers, it was a solid investment, in his opinion.

He shook his head again, he's dawdled long enough, he still needed to meet with a client, who hired him as their invesment adviser and treasurer.

With that thought in mind, he walked over to the docks. His merchants took a moment to greet him cheerfully as they distributed the items according to his specific instructions.

He approached a small yet sizeable plain wooden chest with wheels, before propping it up and proceeded to drag it behind him as he made his way towards his client's home.

...

 **(Aria's mansion, Imperial year 1024, Day 9, 6:00 PM)**

It was a rather long walk from the trading canals and port, but Arthur finally arrived at the mansion of his client. He had only become their treasurer yesterday afternoon, but it was imperative that he showed them results, since it was his principle to do so.

As for why he didn't rent a carriage or wagon, well, he was quite a cheapskate when it came to spending money on things that would yield him little gain.

At any rate, the guards, who were clad in their white uniforms appeared to have noticed his presence and promptly opened the gate.

Looking unfazed and unbothered by his long walk to arrive at his current location, Arthur simply started approaching the mansion with a steady stride, dragging the wooden chest behind him.

Entering the mansion, Arthur made his way into the living room, where he was greeted by the sight of his client, his wife, and his daughter, who all sat collectively on one big sofa on the right side of the room, while two of their guards stood behind them.

"Arthur, great timing we were just talking about you, have a seat" he gestured to the single seat to his right.

As he walked forward, while dragging the chest, he caught sight of three additional individuals on the sofa across the client and his family.

There was a girl with black eyes, straight black hair and pale white skin, who was wearing a pale lilac kimono style dress that was tied with a purple obi, which had large sleeves that was separated from the rest of the dress. She also had a white flower accessory on her hair.

Another one had similar features, black hair and black eyes, but had slightly tanned skin. He wore a martial arts headband on his head, a thick brown winter jacket, and black pants.

The last one had coffee-brown hair and emerald green eyes. He was wearing a slight tan sweater over a white long-sleeved shirt. He also had brown vambraces and black pants.

He took his seat as offered, before diverting his eyes to the client and his family with the same emotionless look.

"I am here to report the current status, as well as, present the results of your investment after 24 hours" Arthur said emotionlessly as he looked at the client.

The man simply chuckled, along with his wife. "Straight to point as usual, I see"

"I seldom engage in small talk, unless it is beneficial or profitable to some degree." Arthur responded emotionlessly.

"Ah yes, I see that you prefer not to waste time, then" said the client good-naturedly. When Arthur offered no response, the client continued. "Have our recent financial endeavors been successful?"

"Your alloted capital of 1000 gold coins for investments has increased twentyfold in the last 24 hours. Ultimately, the result of today's investment ventures presents that your alloted capital currently consists of 20,000 gold coins" Arthur said emotionlessly, before dropping the wooden chest flat on the ground, making a clanging sound of thousands of golden coins clattering against each other.

However, the client's family and guards were too busy helping the man, since he had choked on his own tea during the first half of the sentence.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the unnamed trio gaping at him with wide eyes, but he paid no mind to either side, opting to simply wait patiently in the sidelines.

Once he finally recovered, the client spoke with a sheepish smile. "Forgive me, Arthur, I'm afraid your declaration caught me a little off guard"

"Understandable"

"I suppose, they don't call you a golden boy just because of your choice of clothing, huh?" The client said casually, while chuckling happily.

"That is correct"

"I knew you had to be well-versed in the ways of finance and trade, since you own a multitude of merchant boats, boutiques, and stalls in the imperial capital's trading, 10 galleon trading ships, and your own guild and guild hall, but still...this is quite impressive"

"Underestimating my versatility in handling and/or dealing with matters related to finances, commerce, and trade is unwise" Arthur replied emotionlessly.

"I'll be sure to remember that" said the client, while chuckling, before looking at the trio across him and slapping his forehead in realization. "Agh, I almost forgot. Sayo, Ieyasu, Tatsumi, this is the boy I was talking about, this is Arthur. Arthur, this is Sayo, Ieyasu, and Tatsumi"

The three then bowed their heads at him respectfully.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" Sayo spoke in behalf of her friends.

 _From the looks of things, I'd say that they're the same age as me and judging by the fact that they're here and that they don't seem well aquainted with the client or his family. I'd say that they're guests and they're probably from the country and got scammed, if they're staying here and not at a nearby inn._ Arthur thought to himself.

"Likewise" Arthur replied emotionlessly, before turning to the client. "Might I ask what you were talking about prior to my arrival and why I am supposedly the subject of said conversation?"

"Ah yes, well you see, I was just telling them about how I hired you to be my treasurer and investment adviser and, as you can see..." The client gestured to the chest at Arthur's feet, while addressing the three. "He's quite skilled and well-verse and that my story does do him justice. I also told them that you'd probably be willing to hire them for some job or another"

Without looking at the three who was looking at him hopeful eyes, he said "That I am" before turning to them. "I'd like to hear more about what occurred prior to how you got here, if you wouldn't mind" Arthur said emotionlessly, before turning to the trio, who began retelling their story.

From the reason why they left the village in the first place...

 _So, they did come from the country as I assumed. I can't give them a job as merchants or clerks, since they still don't know the inner working of the capital's trade and commerce and would likely be scammed one way or another._ Thought Arthur as he listened with closed eyes.

...to their encounter with the bandits in the forest...

 _Two swordsmen and an archer, huh? Judging from their story, they must be quite skilled as well, being able to fend off a gang of bandits, if their story is to be believed, that is. I could give them a job guarding shipments and deliveries around the capital and at the trading ships or maybe have them teach the crew on ship either way their help would work well to fend off against potential pirate attacks. Not that any pirates have dared attack any of my ships, but one can never be too careful._

 _..._ to their encounter with the earth dragon...

 _A class 1 danger beast, huh? They really are skilled, then. I'd say that these three are diamonds in the rough, if their story has any semblance of truth to it. I suppose it's merely luck that I ran into them now, while they're looking for jobs. I could use expert hands when guarding shipments and deliveries._

...to their arrival in the capital and how they lost all their money...

As Sayo retold how her friends managed to lose all of their money because of some busty blonde (glaring at the cowering duo the whole time), Arthur facepalmed in a dignified manner, before shaking his head.

"At least, I know that I can't trust either of you with any alloted sum of money meant for trade and investments" Arthur said emotionlessly, before looking up at them. "However, I could use people with skills like yours. If you were able to best a class 1 danger beast, then you must be skilled with your individual weapons. I'd like to offer you three jobs as guards for shipments and deliveries"

"We accept!" The trio said eagerly and excitedly and Arthur simply nodded.

"Then from this moment on you are officially guards under my employ and are official members of my guild, Lion Heart. We will discuss the details of the job, as well as, your first assignment tomorrow." Arthur said in his usual deadpan tone, seemingly unaffected by the looks of gratitude they were giving him.

"Splendid, now how about we celebrate over dinner, I'm sure you're all quite famished" the client said, before heading into the dining room, along with his family.

Sayo, Ieyasu, and Tatsumi were about to follow, when Arthur suddenly stopped them by grabbing Sayo's shoulder.

They both looked back at their new employer, only to see him looking at them seriously. They didn't know what to make of the sight, until he spoke.

"Don't eat anything that I push away and only eat the same food that I do" He said emotionlessly.

With that he started walking into the dining room, leaving the trio completely puzzled by the instructions.

...

Sayo didn't really know what to make of their new employer's words, but something told her that they should follow his instructions.

It wasn't just because he was their new and that they felt obliged to do as he instructed, though.

So far, Tatsumi and Ieyasu were scammed out of their life savings. As far as they knew there were a lot more people in the capital would take advantage of them or do something worse than simply scamming them.

It was better that they heed the advice of someone who has been in the capital for longer than 7 hours.

"Let's go" she said to her friends, before they all started walking towards the dining room.

Needless to say, the dining room, like everything else in this mansion looked especially grand and elegant.

The table alone was almost as long as the living room they had just exited and on its sides were a multitude of plush chairs.

Aria's father sat at the head of the table and on his left and right was his wife and daughter respectively.

The trio of friends were about to take the seats near them, so as to maintain within polite hearing range, but Arthur grabbed Sayo's shoulder to stop her.

She looked back at him questioningly and so did the rest of her friends.

"Something wrong?" She asked in concern. She really had no idea how to address him, since she's never really been hired by someone who's the same age as her.

"..." He stared in front of him distantly with an emotionless expression, before pulling out a chair on the right side of the table and gesturing to it with one hand.

Sayo blushed a bit at the gesture. She wasn't really used to being treated like this, but took rhe offer nonetheless with a polite bow and quiet thank you.

He took the seat to her right, which nearly blocked her from view of the family, considering the distance between them. Tatsumi and Ieyasu fumed slightly, while shooting daggers at their new boss, before taking the seats to Sayo's left.

The maids arrived with a cart filled with an assortment of food that looked too beautifully prepared to eat. Tatsumi and Ieyasu almost felt bad for eating it.

"Please help yourselves, emperor knows we wouldn't be able to finish this by ourselves" the man chuckled mirthfully.

At that the dinner went on normally, small talk here and there and Arthur would even occasionally ask about the food that was served, mostly about the ingredients and their supplier, but other than that nothing seemed to be out of place.

Nevertheless, Sayo observed Arthur discreetyly and carefully. They warned them for a reason, so they needed to be careful.

The small talk stopped when they all started focusing on their respective meals.

Heeding their employer's warning, Sayo only ate the food that Arthur was eating, but so far, he hasn't pushed anything away.

She nudged her friends and gestured with her head to Arthur, who was currently eating what looked like some kind of meat dish.

The two raised their eyebrows at her, before she gestured with her head to Arthur again.

They looked again at the honey-gold haired boy and saw that he had pushed away the tea and bread and that he was subtly shaking his head while make eye contact out of the corner of his eye.

Oblivious to the reason behind the gesture, the two boys simply opted to stay away from the bread and tea.

Sayo, on the other hand, had a feeling that they had narrowly dodged a bullet right now.

...

After dinner, Aria's mother tried to put them in separate rooms for the night, saying that they had more than enough room and that they wouldn't want to disturb their right to privacy.

Before the trio of friends could utter a word, however, Arthur spoke up.

"We'll all stay in the same room tonight, I'd like to discuss the details of their job in private" Arthur said in an emotionless tone, but the way he said it...gave the impression that this wasn't open for negotiation.

Aria's mother agreed reluctantly and the four of them started walking to their designated room.

Ieyasu shot a suspicious look at their new employer the whole walk, while Tatsumi just glanced at him warily. Arthur didn't so much as flinch at their suspicion nor did he utter a single word during the whole walk.

When they arrived in front of the door to their room, Arthur silently opened it and walked in.

Once inside, Arthur simply sat down on the bed with an emotionless expression on his face, ignoring the varying degrees of questioning he was receiving from the newest members of his guild.

"Ask." He said emotionlessly when he turned to face them.

Ieyasu was the first to voice out his suspicion. "Why did you insist that we all stay in one room? Are you planning something with Say-"

"It's for your own safety. You three are far too inexperienced and naive to see that these people aren't who they appear to be and as your guild master, it is my responsibility to ensure that none of you are harmed" Arthur interrupted emotionlessly with his default deadpan expression.

"What do you mean by 'these aren't who they appear to be'?" Sayo asked warily and concernedly, feeling anxious at the answer that she might receive.

"There's a reason why these people willingly invite complete strangers into their house and I suspect that the reason isn't because they're good samaritans" Arthur replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Tatsumi asked in a slight shout as he got to his feet, a motion that Ieyasu also took.

"I'm saying that this family is far from innocent and that you three just narrowly dodged a bullet tonight, so to speak"

Tatsumi was about to retort to that, but he was immediately cut off.

"Get some sleep. I have a feeling that you're all about to see what I mean later tonight." He said before turning his back and proceeding to lay down on his bed. He turned to them again slightly. "Then you might realize just how naive you are to take this family's offer to stay the night"

With that said, there was silence. Ieyasu and Tatsumi wanted to argue and retort, but they didn't really have any argument to that. It's true that they were still inexperienced when it came to the imperial capital, the fact that they were scammed out of their life savings was a testament to that.

Also, they couldn't really deny that they were starting to question the family's motives of letting they, complete strangers, stay at their house. They must have some sort of gain or something.

And as for the warning...

 _You're all about to see what I mean later tonight._

...they had a strong premonition that something bad was going to happen tonight.

...

 **(Aria's mansion, later that night, 12:00 MN)**

Arthur's eyes opened, before he slowly sat up and looked at the door distantly

 _Bloodlust..._ he thought, before he silently got up from his bed.

He glanced at the newest members of his guild and saw that they were still fast asleep and from the looks of things, they probably wouldn't wake up for a few more minutes.

The could either be really good or really bad depending on who was the one emitting such bloodlust.

Nonetheless, he was the only one that could protect them from whoever was out there.

Deciding that it was best to find out exactly who the bloodlust was in order to determine the most optimal route, he stood up, walked out of the room and looked out of the nearest window, which gave him a full view of the blood red moon, as well as, five figures who stood on a platform of barely visible wires.

"I suppose my suspicions weren't unfounded if Night Raid is here" Arthur said emotionlessly, completely unperturbed by the fact that there were assassins in the mansion.

Either way, Tatsumi, Sayo and Ieyasu would probably be safe, since they couldn't possibly be the targets, unless, of course, they got in the way of their assassination.

Arthur watched as two of them dropped down from the platform, the one with the armor and the one he saw on numerous wanted posters, Akame.

The guards approached the night raid members warily and Arthur did nothing more than watch with an emotionless expression on his face.

 _They must be more naive than I thought, if these guards think they have a chance._ Arthur thought as he watched one guard charge at them.

He sighed before his eyes widened, when Akame slashed his throat open.

 _Admirable speed and agility._ Arthur commended, before watching another guard get skewered by the armor-wearing man.

Clearly, they were using imperial arms, as well.

Either way, this doesn't concern him. If these assassins were anything like what he thought they were based on what he had managed to gather about their past targets, then the newest members of his guild don't have to worry about getting themselves killed.

As long as they stay out of the way, that is.

As the final guard was shot in the head, Arthur moved away from the window and started walking towards the treasury. With the client dead, he won't need his return-on-investment.

 _I'm certain that the trio would be fine. They may be naive, but surely they are not so foolish as to think that they can hold their own against assassins, much less, survive._

 **...**

 **...**

 **Well, here you all have my second attempt at an Akame Ga Kill story, since the first one is more or less a failure. Also the title is simply a reference to my OC's name (King Arthur). He has no royal blood whatsoever.**

 **Also for this fic, exect a bit more complex heist-themed assassinations that involve infiltration and several complex plans. Because no offense or anything, I think the anime's assassinations were a bit...to straightforward and simple.**

 **Next time, we'll see the confrontation between Akame and Arthur, as well as the quartet's inauguration into night raid.**


	2. Kill the New Recruits

**Hello, I'm back with a new chapter.**

 **Before we begin, I'd just like to ask: Does anyone else here think that for a titular character, Akame didn't get nearly enough screentime in either the anime or the manga? I mean, I get that this isn't the case with the spinoff, but still.**

 **Well, that's something I'm going to be changing, so expect more screentime for the red-eyed assassin we all know and love and maybe some...minor twists and turns from canon as well. I mean, she is one of the main characters in the fic, so I think it should be reasonable for her to have a bit more screentime, right?**

 **To all those Tatsumi fans out there, however, don't get discouraged because he'll still be getting his own fair share of screen time. Also, another pairing in this fic will be Tatsumi X Mine, so yeah...**

 **Also, if you hadn't realized it yet, this totally an AU story.**

 **Review responses:**

 **T. Grey: Thank you and I hope you find this chapter to your liking.**

 **Archangel677: Thank you for saying so and I hope you enjoy this new chapter.**

 **Endersoul1401: That's right and I'm glad that you approve of that little tidbit right there, since not that many people seem to be interested in keeping Sayo and Ieyasu alive, don't know why though. Thank you.** **and as far as Arthur knows…he isn't using one…but he actually does have one.**

 **Let's get on with the show.**

 **...**

 **...**

 **Chapter 2: Kill the New Recruits**

 **...**

 **...**

Arthur casually walked through the halls of the mansion at a leisurely pace in seach of the treasury or the client's personal room. Not at all perturbed by the fact that there were assassins in the house.

He stopped in his tracks when he smelled blood nearby. He looked down at the ground to see the client's wife's corpse, completely bissected with blood spilling the carpet floor.

He sighed and shook his head, before continuing his walk through the hallway.

"Honestly, whatever happened to stealth, subtlety and clean & quick kills" he muttered emotionlessly, albeit with a bit of exasperation. Whoever killed the wife was probably splattered with blood all over his/her clothes, which was something he, as a former assassin, thought was an undesirable situation.

Blood stains were a real pain to get out of clothes, afterall and he hated buying new clothes after every mission.

Oh and of course there's the fact that blood stains on clothes made you look like walking evidence of murder.

Then again, he did prefer the sneak and kill approach so maybe whoever killed the wife didn't have to worry about the people being wary about them.

Back then, he often relied on luring his targets into a false sense of security by putting on the facade of an innocent little child, so he couldn't really afford to have the public, along with his potential targets, seeing him as anything but innocent, which is why he stuck to clean and quick kills.

As he mulled over and ranted about the overtly messy kills, he came across a tall blonde woman with feline features strangling the client as he rounded the corner.

Without breaking stride or even flinching at the sight, he just muttered: "See, this woman's got the right idea, death by asphyxiation via strangulation is much more clean. Granted, its not all that quick and requires a bit more strength"

From the corner of his eye, the client gave him a desperate look and the woman raised an eyebrow at him.

In response to his client's silent plea, he said:

"The fact that you're being strangled by a night raid assassin is more than enough to convince me that you neither deserve my help nor do you deserve to be saved, much less to still be alive at this point" He said emotionlessly as he continued to walk, before stopping in front of the door.

With his back turned to them, he spoke: "Quite frankly, had I known that you had skeletons hidden in your closet..." He turned to address his former client and looked at him with his default poker face. "I would've killed you all the second you let me in your mansion" he continued in an emotionless voice that was oozing palpable bloodlust with every word.

With that he opened the door and entered the room in search of the treasure chest he had given the man. Conveniently enough, it was right beside their bed, along with the key.

Well, that was easy.

He walked over to the chest casually and propped it up, before he started rolling it out the door; not even so much as flinching at the sound of a sickening dull crack that indicated the client's death because of his snapped neck.

He made his way back to the hallway and started walking casually towards the room of his new guild members. The whole time he made his way through the halls, he felt the the feline woman stalking him and tried to ignore it.

"You do realize that the location I'm headed to is unrelated to your mission, correct?" He said, before he heard the woman stop in her tracks, probably from shock. Did she really believe that he didn't know she was there? "What business do you have with me?" He asked in a monotone voice without turning around to look at the woman.

"That was some pretty impressive bloodlust you've got there" Came the voice of the cheery feline blonde.

"Thank you for stating what we both already know." he said, not breaking his stride or showing any signs that he was invested in this conversation.

He heard rushed footsteps come from behind him and soon enough, the blonde woman was walking by his side.

"Okay, I'll just get straight to the point" The woman relented in a whine. "Why don't you-"

"I already know what you're going to ask and the answer is no" he said emotionlessly without breaking stride.

"You didn't even let me finish" The blonde woman whined with a pout.

"Given your profession and the fact that you saw the intensity of my bloodlust, the logical choice for you to make is to offer me a position in night raid in order to strengthen your forces. However, joining you gives me no profit, benefit, or gain whatsoever so my answer is no" he said emotionlessly without breaking stride.

"But how come?!" The blonde whined childishly. "From the way you threatened that guy to the intensity of your bloodlust, you're like a natural-born assassin" the blonde said hoping to convince the guy with praise.

"I was, but not anymore"

"Hmm...so you have experience, huh?" The blonde purred in curious and slightly serious tone.

"..."

When he offered no further elaboration, she decided to change the topic. "If you knew what was going on here, why didn't you do anything?"

"I've only known these people for 30 hours. I had my suspicions, but they were only confirmed tonight. Furthermore, I managed to save their latest would-be victims, so for all intents and purposes, I have no concrete idea as to what they do to their victims" he said emotionlessly. "But the fact that all of Night Raid is here suggests that whatever they do to their victims isn't so trivial and frivolous."

At this statement, the blonde only nodded with a serious look on her face.

"If you, at least, have a general idea of what kind of targets we go after, then why won't you help us?" The blonde asked seriously, no traces of her former playful childishness.

"It's not that I don't sympathize with your cause because I do" he said emotionlessly.

The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"But?" She prompted.

"I've already turned my back on my former life and have no reason or desire to return to it. I have even managed to turn over a new leaf by starting my own guild and a string of businesses and I do not wish to change that, so I'm sorry, but my answer is no"

At that, he stopped in front of the door to the room where he left the trio of friends in. He turned his back on the woman to face the door.

"All I want now is protect the members of my guild, my family" With that said, he opened the door...

...only to see that it was devoid of any occupants.

He blinked once. Twice. Three times. His expression never changing from his default poker face, before he sighed, already getting a good picture of what had happened.

"Those three are too naive for their own good" he muttered under his breath in emotionless, albeit exasperated tone.

With that said, he closed the door and noticed the distinct lack of the woman's presence. Good, she seemed to have gotten the message. He was even careful to not see her face, so she won't get an excuse to take me back to their hideout under the pretense of 'security purposes'

At that, he dashed through the halls and out of the mansion with inhuman speed and agility; making his way to the location where he might find the trio of friends.

"With there naivety there's only one place where they would go , when they spotted the assassins."

...

Once he approached the treeline of the forest, Arthur slowed down his sprint and blurred his presence as he started calmly walking to the edge of the trees, where he could make out the sight of the trio protecting the girl from the red-eyed assassin from before.

At this, he facepalmed.

"Just how naive are these three to actually take on a trained assassin and teigu user and the wielder of the one-cut kill sword, Murasame, of all people" Arthur muttered under his breath in an emotionless tone.

Honestly, did these three have some kind of hero complex or something?

Then again...he couldn't really blame them because at first glance it does look like the red-eyed assassin, Akame, is the enemy here.

He looked up and saw that Akame was about to deliver the coup de grace to Sayo by swinging at her neck, while the boys could do little but watch in horror.

Before the blade could pierce Sayo's skin, however, Akame was forced on the defensive as a hailstorm of what appeared to pure white luminescent kunais started firing at her from the trees, courtesy of Arthur. After deflecting the initial strikes, Akame jumped back from the multitude of white blades, before turning her attention to the forest's area.

Casually, Arthur started walking towards the trio at a leisure pace and an emotionless expression.

"Arthur!" The trio exclaimed in surprise and relief in their voice.

"Dare I ask why the three of you decided to pick a fight with a night raid assassin and Akame, of all people?" He asked with an emotionless voice as he stared down the red-eyed assassin, who was now on guard.

Once he stopped in front of the trio defending the girl and got in between them and the assassin, a second girl, who looked almost exactly like Akame, jumped down from the trees with a similar katana in hand drawn and at the ready.

"You okay, Nee-chan?" The girl asked in a monotonous, albeit concerned tone.

"I'm fine, Kurome. I was taken by surprise is all" Akame said monotonously, albeit reassuringly, to which Kurome nodded, before straightening her posture and staring the boy down.

"His eyes." Kurome stated with a bit of surprise.

"I know, they are much like ours, are they not?" Akame said warningly as he stared at the boy's eyes that had a glint that was similar to her and her sister's, which meant that he was no stranger to this line of work, as far as she could tell. "We can't let our guard down."

"I'll be careful, it's clear that he's no stranger to this kind of work or bloodshed in general"

Meanwhile as the sisted continued, Arthur observed them as well.

 _The wielder of the one-hit killer, Murasame and the wielder of the march of the dead: Yatsufusa. Well, this is rather unfortunate._ Arthur mused to himself, while calculating his odds. _They're definitely skilled, there's no denying that, I didn't pick up on Kurome's presence until the last minute and as for Akame, she definitely has admirable speed and reflexes. Also, their eyes, I can tell that they've beem through a lot, but just how much bloodshed did they bear witness to or spilled themselves, I wonder._

As he continued to muse to himself, the trio had already started their explanation, which he didn't really listen to all that much, since he had a pretty good guess of why they were protecting the girl. They were still naive and too innocent for their own good, afterall.

"I don't suppose you'd consider sparing them?" Arthur asked monotonously to the two assassins.

"I already offered to spare them." Answered Akame in a monotonous voice.

"But they are adamant about protecting the target" continued Kurome in the same tone.

"I see" Said Arthur with an equally emotionless voice, before turning to the trio. "And I don't suppose you'd consider stepping aside and letting the assassins do their job would you?"

"What kind of question is that?!" Asked an outrage Ieyasu.

"What kind of people would we be, if we let lady Aria die, just like that?!" Continued Tatsumi.

"Sane ones with at least two working brain cells and basic commonsense" answered Arthur bluntly.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Yelled the furious duo im anger, while Sayo was visibly shaken from her experience of nearly being killed

"I'm implying that your intelligence, commonsense, and sanity is equal to that of a rock for choosing this route" Arthur said emotionlessly. "That or you are foolishly trying to satisfy some sort of hero complex"

"We're just doing what anyone else in our situation would've done!" Retorted Ieyasu.

"Yes, I'm sure anyone else would risk their lives to save the girl who had just tried to poison them not 6 hours ago."

Before Tatsumi and Ieyasu could retort to that there was a sudden burst of wind and Arthur vanished, which was followed by the sound of metal clashing and crashing against each other repeatedly at high speeds. It took the duo a moment to realize that the assassins had lunged during their talk and Arthur intercepted, meeting them in the middle.

Meanwhile in the middle of the clearing, Arthur was clashing and countering the girls katana strikes with the use of his two pure white luminescent claymores, each one of them moved to intercept their opponent's strikes at blinding speed, strategizing on the fly and making split-second adjustments in the last second, like the world's deadliest game of a rock paper scissors. Ultimately, their seemingly equal skills placed them into a stalemate.

 _One sword will kill me, if I get knicked or scratched, while the other will turn me into a mindless puppet, if I get killed by it_. _Truly unfortunate._ Thought Arthur as their blades continued to dance. _Impressive swordsmanship as well, their battle instincts are definitely sharpened as well. I can't let this drag on, I don't know what they're hiding._

Back with the trio, Tatsumi and Ieyasu stared in awe and shock as Arthur was fighting going toe-to-toe against _two_ assassins. They could barely manage to survive a fight with one of them, yet here their employer was, matching their katana strikes with two swords of his own. The blades were moving so fast they could barely see the metal all they saw was the occasional sparks and blurs from the action.

"W-was he always this strong?" Ieyasu managed to ask.

"I have no idea" responded Tatsumi. "talk about being outclassed, huh?"

Ieyasu nodded in agreement.

One final deafening clash of metal resonated throughout the whole clearing and silenced the spectators' conversation. Arthur rolled back slightly with force of being thrown back in front of them and the same went for the two assassins. Arthur straighetened his posture, before assuming his stance again.

"You understand now, don't you?" He asked them without turning to them. When he was answered by silence he continued. "You three are completely outclassed by these two and yet you fooslishly decided to go up and fight against them, despite that being the case. For all intents and purposes, you made a very foolish and unprofitable decision by letting your emotions get the best of you and overwhelm your better judgement. What do you think would've happened if I didn't make it in time? All of you should've stayed out of this, there is no shame in running from a fight you know you cannot succeed in. Furthermore, what you are doing is, ultimately, pointless."

"How is protecting an innocent girl pointless?!" Ieyasu demanded, when he found his voice again.

"If you fought them, you would've died and if you die, the girl dies, but if you stayed away from the fight, you would live, while the girl dies" Arthur answered in an emotionless monotone voice. "Either way, the girl will die, so the only logical choice to make is to stay out of the fight. Furthermore, if you died, your village also dies"

Arthur heard a sharp intake of breath from the three of them, as if they had just came to that realization themselves.

"So, you only came to realize this fact now, have you? That alone speaks volumes of how much you thought this decision through" Arthur said, before glancing at them from the corner of his eyes, which held a stern glint to them.

"I will ask you again" Arthur said with his piercing purple eyes. "Step. Aside."

When neither of the two moved, Arthur narrowed his eyes, before saying:

"Is the life of this girl worth more than the lives in your village?" The boys froze as the words gravity of his words reached them.

It was all true, if they fought, they would die and if they died, their village would die as well. Could they really step aside and watch as an innocent girl dies right before their very eyes, just so they could live and fight for their village?

Tatsumi clenched his fist and looked at Arthur determinedly.

"If we can't even save the life of one girl, then we wouldn't be able to save our entire village" was Tatsumi's response.

All of a sudden three things happened at once, Arthur disappeared in front of him, a girlish scream of pain and agony resonated throughtout the clearing and Arthur was already a couple of feet behind Aria, who had a pure white broadsword sticking out of her leg. They could only gape at the sight and at the fact that it all happened within a second.

"Ambition, resolve, conviction and good intentions, just like clever strategies and plans, are meaningless if you do not possess the capability to follow them through" Arthur said in his usual monotone, while the others stared in shock for a few more seconds, before Ieyasu suddenly charged at him with his axe raised and a furious battle cry.

Arthur was visibly unimpressed.

Once he was close enough, Arthur swept Ieyasu's feet, causing the axe-wielding boy to trip forward with the sudden loss of balance and taking advantage of the boy's forward momentum, Arthur launched him forward, sending him crashing through the shed's doors.

"Ieyasu?!" His friends called out worriedly.

All they heard was a loud gasp, which prompted the other two friends to rush to his aid and burst into the shed, only to let out their own loud gasps at the sight that the trio found in front of them.

Their stomachs lurched, their noses wrinkled, and their dinner threatened to make a reappearance as the overwhelmingly putrid stench of decaying flesh wafted through their nostrils, yet they stood frozen before the sight in front of them despite the foul odor.

Several mutilated and maimed corpses hung from the ceiling by chains, all of which have been peppered with scars, lacerations, bruises, and severed limbs. There were corpses strapped on various torture machines, which have been caked in dried blood and decorated with amputated limbs. Some corpses were imprisoned in a cage, looking like they have died from various diseases, judging by the various sored and spots that peppered their body. The trio lost count of how many corpses there were, seeing as that the shed was much larger and deeper, than what the outside might suggest.

"W-what is this?" Sayo managed to squeak in a quiet voice, when she recovered, but she kept a horrified gaze fixed on the sight in front of her.

"That is what would've happened to the three of you, had I not been here tonight." Arthur said in an emotionless tone, seemingly unperturbed by the sight. "Now, do you realize just how naive you all were for accepting this girl's offer to stay the night in her house?"

The trio couldn't respond though, their words died in their throats as they continued to stare in front of them, almost as if they couldn't take their eyes away.

"These people really did this?" Sayo managed to ask in a dark and low tone, which didn't really surprise Arthur that much, out of the three of them, she was the least naive and she was already starting to suspect the girl to begin with.

"Evidently, yes, they did" said Arthur emotionlessly.

"He-he's lying, I didn't even know that this place was here. Who are you gonna believe, this guy who just stabbed me out of nowhere or the girl who gave you all a place to stay and food to eat" pleaded the panicking Aria desperately.

"I-is someone there?" A raspy voice suddenly sounded from the side of the shed, which prompted the trio to look at the source of the voice, tearing their gaze away from the horrific sight in front of them.

A half-naked woman with bloody black hair and a missing eye, who was around her mid twenties with red sores peppering her body, stood up using the cage's bar for support. Her body suggested that she didn't have long to live, but she still spoke up to the trio.

"Don't listen to that girl, s-she a-and h-her family d-did this t-to us. S-she would torture us f-for hours. D-don't believe her" was the last thing she said, before she dropped down on the cage's bar, dead.

"Fine I admit it!" Aria suddenly proclaimed angrily. "We did invite them here and we did torture them and we would've done the same thing to you three if it weren't for you!" Aria screamed to Arthur, who didn't so much as flinch at the venom in her words.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THAT, HUH?! YOU'RE ALL JUST A BUNCH OF COUNTRY BUMPKINS, YOU'RE ALL NO BETTER THAN LIVESTOCK! YOU SHOULD BE THANKFUL THAT YOU GOT TO DIE BY SATISFYING MY BLOODLUST! AT LEAST, THAT WAY YOU WOULD HAVE HAD SOME USE, UNGRATEFUL PIGS!" Aria screeched heretically and maniacally, before breathing heavingly at the effort.

When all was said and done, Arthur addressed the two assassins. "I apologize for interrupting your assassination"

"Eliminate" Akame and Kurome replied simultaneously as they drew their blades.

"Wait" Sayo said, which prompted Arthur to look back at her, but before he say anything, an arrow pierced Aria's heart, much to her shock and disbelief.

A whizzing noise sounded through the clearing, followed by another arrow piercing Aria's throat. Within seconds, Aria dropped dead on the clearing.

Silence.

"Impressive aim" complimented Arthur. "She wasn't even off by a centimeter"

"All targets eliminated" Akame and Kurome said at the same time, before sheathing their blades.

After they got over the shock, the rage and the disbelief, the trio of friends could only slump in depression and hopelessness. They had come to the capital, hoping to earn a fortune to save their village, only to discover that the people who took them in and gave them a place to stay...were nothing more than a pack of ravenous wolves in sheep's clothing and that they were nothing more than prey in their eyes. For the first time, they realized just how foolish and naive they were for coming here and how lucky they were to have narrowly avoided the same fate as the people in front of them.

"What the heck is wrong with this place" said Tatsumi with tears in his eyes as he thought about the poor unfortunate souls, who weren't as lucky as they were and had died horrible deaths.

For his part, Arthur just looked at the trio without a scintilla of emotion to be found in his expression. This was a much needed lesson for the most recent members of his guild, they were far too naive and innocent for their own good, they were just children and just like all children they needed to realize the horrifying reality of the world around them and how cruel the world really is.

So deep he was in his musings, he didn't even realize that the trio of friends were currently being dragged by the feline woman that he met in the mansion. Once he did, however, he quirked an eyebrow, before sighing and began walking by the woman's side, who was ignoring the protests of the trio.

The woman tilted her head at him curiously, before her mouth formed a feral, albeit smug grin.

"They're members of my guild and that makes them my responsibility, so if you are taking them back to your hideout, then I need to follow them to ensure that they do not come to harm" Arthur said emotionlessly, which only prompted the woman to look in front of her, her grin never disappearing or faltering in the slightest.

Eventually, they arrived at the rooftop.

"You're late, what took you so long?!" Asked a furious Mine with her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently.

"We should all get out of here, the imperial police is going to arrive soon" said Lubbock urgently.

In the urgency, they didn't immediately notice the four extra persons that came along with their teammates.

"Who are they?" Asked Mine confusedly.

"One of us!" Leone answered nonchalantly.

"WHAT?!" the trio of friends exclaimed in shock and surprise, while Arthur simply facepalmed, before shaking his head, as if embarassed by the trio's cluelessness.

Honestly, wasn't it obvious from the beginning?

"Huh? Didn't I tell you?" Leone said confusedly, before turning to address the four of them with her teammate behind her back. "Starting today, you're part of the team!" She declared happily

"Congratulations! You just joined the Night Raid!" She proclaimed excitedly.

There was an awkward silence between the three friends as they processed what just happened with a disbelieving expressions on their faces. Arthur just remained...emotionless and unfazed, as if he had already expected as such.

"Wait a minute, don't we get a say in this?!" Tatsumi protested when he recovered.

"Just give up, Leone always gets her way." Said Akame and Kurome monotonously at the same time.

"Look at that, my best buds know how it works" said Leone fondly as she rubbed their heads.

"Furthermore, do you really believe that they'll let you leave now that you know how the rest of the unknown members look like?" Asked Arthur rhetorically.

"Kid's got a point." Leone said with a smile, before turning to Bulat. "They're all yours"

With that, Bulat carried all three of them, the two boys underneath his arms and the girl on his back, who all struggled feebly, save for Sayo.

Leone looked at Arthur with a pondering expression, before said boy simply walked forward and said. " I can keep up with you just fine"

Leone shrugged and with that, they jumped into the darkness and disappeared in the night.

...

...The following day, Night Raid's base, 4:00 PM...

To an extent, Arthur believed that he had abandoned the life he once had in favor of a more peaceful one; that he would never have to revert back to the time when a cold sea of blood was his everyday and that he would be pushed in a situation where he had to become an assassin once again.

However, some part of him knew that he could never truly be free of the life he once lived. Try as he might to forget the past and all the targets he killed, he knew that he could never truly do so. Turning over a new leaf doesn't change the fact that he murdered people; people that had loved ones, people they cared about and people that cared about them. He could never truly be free of his past; to walk the same streets as the loved ones of his targets.

He knew for a fact that he will always be an assassin, even if he chose not to kill.

Having said that, he always expected that he would be forced to atone for the blood that he spilled, either by being killed by the loved ones of one of his targets or by being executed by the villages of one of his targets.

The point is that he knew he would always be an assassin and that he could never escape his past, but he expected that he would be killed for his past actions...he never expected to be dragged back into that world kicking and screaming the whole way.

Arthur, along with Tatsumi, Sayo, and Ieyasu, stood before the leader of Night Raid, Najenda, as the members that surrounded them recounted the tale of how they were brought here.

For his part, Arthur maintained his default poker face and had opted to change his attire overnight.

He was now wearing a honey gold suit that was buttoned down the middle over a royal purple long-sleeved shirt (that peaked out the suit's sleeves slightly) and a black tie. He also opted for honey gold-colored pants, black shoes, and on top of his new attire was his golden cloak that was pinned around his collar bone with the insignia of his guild. One could also see a sword with a golden ornate hilt and handguard on his left side that had a black sheath.

His outfit was a rather tight-fit, so it emphasized the fact that he was rather scrawny, slender, lanky and petite. His height didn't help his case either seeing as that he was just as tall as Akame. All in all he didn't look intimidating in the least bit, given his androgynous features and petite physique...

He smirked mentally.

...and that's exactly what made him so deadly.

"Thank you all, I think I understand the situation" Najenda broke him out of his musings, when she spoke, before extending her metal hand to the four of them. "How would four like to be the newest members of Night Raid?"

"You're gonna kill us, if we don't join, right?" Tatsumi asked, but Arthur was the one who replied.

"No, they won't kill us, but they wouldn't let us leave either, considering the fact that we not only know the location of their base, but the faces of the remaining unknown members of Night Raid as well." Arthur replied emotionlessly. "My guess is that we'll have to work in one of their workshops"

"That is correct" said Najenda, while eying the boy with a raised eyebrow, who simply replied with a shrug.

Arthur turned to the slightly torn looks of the trio and spoke with an emotionless tone.

"For all intents and purposes, joining them is the most profitable and beneficial option because if you did, you would be able to earn a greater amount of money to send to your village, not to mention the liberty to roam around the capital." Arthur said emotionlessly, before crossing his arms and looking at them and sighing. "As much as I loathe the idea having to revert back to being an assassin, the same goes for me, unfortunately, since I have a guild and several businesses to manage back in the capital's trading canals, which I cannot leave unattended for a prolonged period of time, so I can't afford to be unable to go to the capital. Furthermore, this would allow me to keep an eye on the three of you"

At that the trio of friends looked down at the floor, considering their options, but no matter how they looked at it, their hands were tied in this situation.

Seeing their deliberation, Akame felt the need to add, while looking at them directly: "Make no mistake, just because joining us is the most profitable and beneficial option for you, doesn't necessarily mean that it is the most ideal one, much less that it's the one you should take"

Kurome spoke next: "If you were to join us, then you should be willing to kill a complete stranger without an ounce of hesitation because if you do, you'd die. If that is not the case, then you would not be able to handle this"

Truth be told, the sisters simply wanted to warn the trio of what would lie ahead of them, should they choose to walk the path of an assassin. They neither got a choice when they were trained to become assassins nor did they know what the path of an assassin entailed. So, they felt that the need to give these three what they were deprived of.

The trio of friends nodded at that before looking at each other meaningfully in what could only be perceived as a silent conversation, since they got the impression that there was a lot of information passing between the trio of friends.

"If you don't mind me asking...what exactly is the end game for all of you; your goal?" Tatsumu asked reluctantly, he even slightly flinched in fear that he had asked something he shouldn't.

Najenda simply continued smiling. "While we are a part of an anti-empire group called the revolutionary army, we have a separate goal, to assassinate the cause of all this mess, the prime minister"

"S-so you're going to kill him?" Asked Ieyasu tentatively.

Najenda looked them in the eyes and said: "Only then, will our nation truly see change"

Silence followed as they absorbed the information. This went on for a few more seconds, before Sayo broke the silence.

"So if our nation had a new start, do you really think all the people will be happy again?" She asked with hopeful eyes that was mirrored by her friends.

"I am certain of it" Najenda confirmed.

"Then...we love it" Tatsumi said with a growing smile on his face that was mirrored by his friends.

"It's like you guys are taking out the trash...killing off the bad guys one by one" Sayo said with the same grin.

"You're a rogue team of assassins for the sake of justice" Ieyasu finished excitedly with a wide grin.

Laughter and giggles filled the entire room courtesy of the Night Raid members, with the exception of Akame, Kurome, and Arthur, who simply chose to stare at the trio pityingly, disbelievingly, and facepalm in second-hand embarassment respectively. All the while, the trio looked around them questioningly, wondering what they could've said.

Eventually, the laughter died down and their inquiries were answered.

"Tatsumi, Sayo, Ieyasu, no matter how you describe it, we're still murderers" said Leone with emotionless eyes.

"And there's no justice to be found in the way we do things" added Sheele with her usual small smile.

"Any given moment, anyone of us could be forced to atone for the blood that we're spilled" Bulat finished with the same emotionless eyes.

"Get the picture now?" Asked Arthur with the same emotionless expression.

They all looked down slightly at that, before looking up at Najenda with determined eyes.

"It doesn't matter, if it's for the greater good, then we don't mind getting our hands dirty" Sayo said determinedly.

"We are gonna get paid for this, right?" Ieyasu asked, which Najenda responded with a nod.

"Then we want to do it, please allow us to be a part of night raid" Tatsumi declared determinedly.

"You probably won't be going back to your village as heroes, you know?" Mine said matter-off-factly.

"That doesn't matter so long as they're taken care of" Sayo said determinedly, which prompted Mine to look away.

"Works for me, prepare for yourselves for a life unlike any other, welcome to Night Raid, Arthur, Tatsumi, Sayo, and Ieyasu." Before anything else could be said, however, a grinding sound could be heard. Lubbock looked down at his Teigu with wide eyes before looking at Najenda.

"Najenda, we have intruders!" Announced Lubbock.

"How many are there and what are their locations?" Najenda asked calmly.

"Judging from my barrier wires, I'd say about eight and they're all close to the hideout" Lubbock replied.

"They're good, for them to sniff this place out, they must be tribal assassins." Najenda said to herself, before turning to the rest of them. "No other choice then, don't let them leave here alive"

Seeing the trio of friends looking viaibly shaken by the sudden intense atmosphere, Arthur walked to them ans whispered in their ear discreetly.

"Sayo, follow Pink and Flat-chest, Tatsumi and Ieyasu, follow Gay and Pompadour" Arthur advised monotonously, before they nodded in acknowledgement and thanks.

"GO!"

 **...**

 **...**

 **Okay, so before you all get upset about the fact that Kurome is in Night Raid, I just went down a route where Kurome decided that her sister was more important than the empire and also, she is essential to the character and plot development I had in mind. For another, these two are the only ones who can truly relate to Arthur the most, given their past lives.**

 **When it came to Arthur's conversation with the three during their confrontation, I'd just like to point out that it is just the way he is, his former life has molded his mindset into a cold and calculating one. He likes to measure odds and calculate risks in order to determine the best course of action for every decision he makes, as well as, every situation he finds himself in.**

 **Also, if some of you think that Arthur was a bit harsh on the three during the conversation...all I'm gonna say he had the best of intentions when he said all of that, given what happened in his past, which will be revealed in due time.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter. Feel free to press the follow/favorite button if you want to see more and leave a review while you're at it.**


	3. Kill the Naivety

**Here we go with the 3** **rd** **chapter of "Of Gold and Blood-red eyes". Once again I must thank you to those who have decided to give my little story a chance and more so to those who followed and added this to their favorites.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **EnderSoul1401: Yup, I just thought that it would make for a rather interesting plot. Thank you for saying so. While I'm not really familiar with the game, I can tell you that those weapons revolve around his Teigu that he claims to not have.** **. As for the love triangle…I don't really have any plans as of now, since I'm sort of going for a more brother-sister relationship between Arthur and Kurome, but who knows maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't, but as of now I'm sticking to the story's main pairing. Thank you for your feedback.**

 **Guest: I'm glad you approve of that little deviation from the canon setting and to be honest, I was really struggling Kurome's personality, since she's more or less an emotionless, deranged, child psychopath obessesed with killing her sister and serving the empire with a hidden soft and sweet side in canon. A lot of her core personality traits won't exactly apply anymore in this story, so…yeah…However, I have read some other fics where Kurome is with Night Raid so I may have improved a little in terms of her personality. I may even fix the chapter in the future. Thank you for the feedback.**

 **Duked: Thank you for saying so. He isn't really giving up his new life, he's still a guild master and he has an agreement with Najenda, so the only thing that's changed is that he's an assassin now on top of being a guild master. We might get a chapter revolved around his activities as a guild master in the future, who knows.**

 **Anyway, let's get on with the show!**

…

…

 **Chapter 3: Kill the Naivety**

 **...**

 **...**

Simultaneously, two sisters sheathed their katanas as they proceeded to make their way back to the hideout, completely ignoring the numerous corpses that littered the river's rocky shore. As they continued their walk into the forest, Kurome, who was eating a large bag full of cookies, couldn't help but ask with a tiny smirk:

"Want to see if the newbies were killed, yet?" Kurome asked with eyes the subtly glinted with amusement and a small smile on her face.

Her older sister turned to her and briefly considered the suggestion. Truth be told, the newbies, namely Tatsumi and Ieyasu, would probably have the toughest time, seeing as that they were directly in the line of danger, unlike Sayo, who was at a vantage point with Mine, and Arthur, who seemed to have been through this before.

She gave her sister a small knowing smirk, which she returned.

"Curious?" They asked at the same time and a moment of silent understanding passed, before nodding at the same time.

With that, they dashed into the direction where they believed Arthur to have went in and sure enough, after a few seconds, they came across the honey-gold haired boy.

He was staring monotonously at a clearing where Tatsumi and Ieyasu waited with their sword and axe drawn respectively. If he knew the sisters were there, then he made no move to acknowledge them. Also there was a very significant number of dead mercenaries strewn around him in a circle, but there was a distinct absence of any blood splattered on the ground

Silently, Akame knelt and inspected the cadavers that were strewn across the forest ground, while Kurome simply watched the two newbies, visibly bored as she looked at the two.

Silence continued, until Arthur spoke.

"They died of natural causes" he said monotonously referring to the mercenaries at his feet.

"Their necks are snapped" Akame deadpanned.

"I think dying once your neck has been snapped is perfectly natural" Arthur replied.

At that, there was silent agreement between the two, before Kurome stepped beside Arthur and watched the two boys with eyes that were half-lidded in sheer boredom as she lazily twirled her katana with one hand.

"Any reason why you're watching this snooze fest?" Kurome asked with disinterest at the sight.

"For all intents and purposes, gauging and measuring just how naive these two are, as well as, how much work and training they need to accomplish is the most logical and optimal course of action." Arthur replied monotonously. "Surely, that is the reason you and your sister are here as well; to see how much work these two, in particular, need in order to become assassins"

"While your point is valid, that wasn't the original reason we came here. Although, now that you mentioned it, this would be a rather good opportunity to learn just how skilled these two truly are" Akame said as she walked up to him.

"Skill, talent, and potential is meaningless, if they do not possess the willingness to put it into practice" Arthur said emotionlessly.

"Yeah, I doubt they could easily kill someone again, the only reason Sayo could kill that girl was because of her rage that night" Kurome agreed with a slight snort.

"Furthermore, Sayo was the only who killed the girl, so these two have no experience in killing another human being whatsoever, they would more than likely show reluctance" Akame said monotonously with a smile twitching the corner of her lips.

Kurome turned to him with a smug smirk. "And that's why you're really here; you killed all these mercenaries, so that they won't have to face any unnecessary danger that they aren't prepared for"

Arthur maintained his poker face the whole time.

"Brilliant deduction, it's clear that I underestimated your intellect. It is only natural that I wish for no harm to come to the members of my guild, since any injury on their part would inevitably lead to decreased performance in their duties as guild members, however, the fact that these mercenaries chose to engage me in combat and the fact that they would attack two members of my guild if they got past me is sheer coincidence, no matter how convenient it may seem" was Arthur's even reply, though something about what he said caused Akame to frown.

"You know you can't always save them, right? Especially in this line of work?" Akame questioned and Arthur nodded.

"While that is certainly true and while I am not naive enough to believe that I can always protect them" Arthur said as he cast a trained eye on the two as they fought together against one of the mercenaries. "As their guild master, it is my responsibility to ensure that I would be by there side, should they encounter a challenge that they cannot overcome."

Akame simply stared at the boy next to him as his words reached her.

From their first encounter, she got the impression that he was cold and calculating, always devising the most optimal and beneficial decisions that he could make in every situation, and while right now that is still true, Akame could sense something else in his, otherwise, monotonous outlook. He may have maintained his emotionless tone of voice, but his words were very similar to how a parent would speak of their children.

She got the impression that he didn't take the lives of the members of his guild lightly. In fact, she would even go as far as saying that Arthur viewed them as if they were his own family or like how a father viewed his children, no matter how absurd it may sound. He was cold, but he was caring.

The thought made a small smile crawl its way to the red-eyed assassin's face. It would seem that a cold and calculating assassin and guild master wasn't all there was to Arthur, not that she was any different in that regard.

Unbeknownst to her, Kurome spotted this little sight and narrowed her eyes at the boy with a pout, she was torn between teasing or being protective and possessive of her elder sister at the moment.

She continued to look at the boy with a critical eye that any mother-in-law would be proud of. She couldn't come to a decision, yet, but maybe that'll change soon or maybe it won't.

She shook her head mentally, she shouldn't be thinking too much into this, they haven't even been with the boy for 24 hours.

She turned her attention back to the fight and saw that the duo had taken down the lone mercenary; both of them acting like they had just survived and defeated a whole army.

Kurome snorted at their confidence and shook her head, before eating a cookie as he watched the two with indifferent disintetested eyes.

 _Arrogance will only get them killed in this line of work._ Kurome thought as she eyed the excited duo with disinterest and slight worry.

At that, the trio came out of hiding and towards the duo, since it was also the rendezvous point for this emergency mission. The rest of night raid walked into the clearing to greet the two newbies. The kimono-wearing girl, Sayo, even made the extra effort to actually inspect them for any injuries, before she sighed in relief. Leone teased her a bit about her having two boys, much to the archer's embarassment.

As laughter filled the air, Arthur couldn't help but think that they were more like a family than a band of assassins, which was really odd...it almost reminded him of...

"Arthur?"

Said boy blinked in surprise, before turning to the source of the voice, who brought him out of his reverie.

"Yes?" Arthur prompted seeing concern glinting in her ruby red eyes and a slight crease in her eyebrows that showed her worry.

"You looked like you were spacing out just now and troubled..." Akame stated monotonously, albeit concernedly. "Is something the matter?"

Arthur shook his head, which made Akame frown subtly in skepticism, she stared at him for a few more seconds, before relenting with a small sigh as they begun walking back to the hideout.

 _He would tell us in due time, I suppose._

 _..._

 _..._ Night Raid HQ, 10 minutes later...

A few minutes later, they all found themselves back in the hideout and proceeded to gather around the meeting room, where Najenda smiled at them.

"Welcome back, so tell me how did the emergency mission go? No problems, I hope"

Each member gave out their individual report on how they handled the mercenaries and when it came to Tatsumi and Ieyasu.

"Heh, those mercenaries didn't stand a chance, it was like taking candy from killer babies" said Tatsumi with an innocent and confident smile.

"Not that you should expect anything less from the great Ieyasu" Ieyasu said with a similar expression as Tatsumi. Sayo eyed them all skeptically with a raised eyebrow and looked at Arthur as if to ask: 'What actually happened'

"That lone mercenary was definitely killed, that's for sure" Arthur clarified emotionlessly, emphasizing the fact that they only went up against one enemy instead of the group that they implied.

"Then again there were two of you, so you did have the advantage" Akame continued in the same monotonous tone.

"And even then, not only did you two barely managed to defeat the guy, but you also gave him an opening to attack, when you fell for his fake sob story" Kurome said in the same monotone voice, but the effect was slightly spoiled by her amused smile.

"Not to mention the fact that you two acted like you had just bested an entire army, if your excitement was anything to go by" Arthur finished plainly with the same monotone voice.

That last bit effectively took the wind out of their sails and sent the two boys crashing down from cloud nine, before they sulked in a dark corner of the meeting room; all enthusiasm and excitement wiped out in a few sentences. Kurome let out a small smile in smug amusement, while Akame and Arthur didn't seem to mind them all that much, probably because they both understood that their over-confidence could lead to their demise.

Something, these three needed too learn as soon as possible, especially these two.

At that, Najenda sighed, before looking at the sisters.

"Akame, Kurome, you two will be in charge of training the new recruits" Najenda said, which caused them both to nod simultaneously. "If they become a nuissance you're free to kill them"

"Mhm, no problem" the sisters deadpanned with the younger sibling sounding a bit more amused, which caused Sayo to do a double-take in disbelief and ecen Tatsumi and Ieyasu to stop their sulking to look at the sisters with shocked expression, while Arthur...well...he looked visibly unimpressed as if he was saying: 'they're certainly welcome to try'

"and given what just happened, I think you should start training them immediately" Najenda added with a knowing smirk as she looked at the clock with amusement.

Akame remained seemed to have gotten the message, but showed no visible emotion whatsoever. In contrast, Kurome couldn't help but let out a tiny barely visible smirk of mischief in anticipation for the newbies' training.

...20 minutes later, Night Raid HQ kitchen...

"These people are unbelievable" grumbled Ieyasu under his breath.

"You got that right" grumbled Tatsumi.

"Don't be like that guys, someone has to do this." Sayo added reassuringly.

"You've no right to complain, since you brought this onto yourself by showing them just how lacking you two are in training" Arthur added emotionlessly.

"Okay, I know that we still have a long way to go before we can become assassins and that we need to be trained, I get that" Tatsumi said evenly, albeit frustratedly.

"What we don't get is that instead of training..." Ieyasu said growing more and more frustrated with every word.

"I said I want seconds!" Came Mine's declaration, which interrupted Ieyasu and gave the black-haired boy even more reason to grow frustrated.

"We're being treated like nothing, but cooks!" Exclaimed Ieyasu and Tatsumi with gritted teeth.

True enough, their first official training assignment was kitchen duty, which mainly involved cooking, washing the dishes, serving, and catering to their seniors, like a bunch of cooking housemaids and while Sayo was rather understandingly patient and Arthur was more or less indifferent, Tatsumi and Ieyasu felt extremely frustrated and kept insisting that this wasn't training at all.

"Come on, Arthur, weren't you a professional assassin or something? Don't you feel a little frustrated by this?" Ieyasu asked angrily, while slamming a knife to the kitchen counter.

"He's right, how can any of this be related to assassination?" Tatsumi asked rhetorically, which made Sayo sigh as she continued peeling the apples.

Not looking the least bit perturbed, Arthur simply served the pinkette with an extra serving of rice and without missing a beat, he did the same for Akame, Bulat, Lubbock, Sheele, Najenda and Leone, before taking Kurome's plate and placing a plate of Honey Toast in front of her, much to the Yatsufusa wielder's surprise, delight and wonder, if her wide starry eyes in wonder, drooling mouth, and murmured 'thank you' was any indication.

Arthur then promptly walked to the kitchen counter/breakfast nook, which separated the kitchen and dining table, as well as, housed the food that was ready to serve. He faced them with his usual poker face and when he spotted their confusion, he sighed.

"Number 1, Non-verbal communication." Arthur said out of the blue.

"Huh?" The duo said together in confusion.

"You asked 'how can any of this be related to assassination?'" Arthur asked emotionlessly, but the way he said it made the two feel like a bunch of five year olds; he sounded very condescending.

"For an assassin, being able to communicate with others without the use of words, as well as, to identify subtle hints and cues that could lead to an opening in a target's pattern and behavior is an invaluable asset." Arthur said emotionlessly, albeit condescendingly, before they nodded in slight skepticism, but Sayo stopped what she was doing to listen intently

"On a mission, that ability could also reduce the risk of detection because of the elimination of any verbal messages. Even coded verbal messages could arouse suspicion, which is why understanding and familiarizing yourself with your comrades' subtle nonverbal cues is something you need to learn."

As soon as he finished that, he grabbed two plates of honey toast, turned around and placed it in front of a waiting Akame and Kurome, much to their starry-eyed gratitude, which was, of course, their way of saying 'Great timing!' without words.

 _All were learning is how to tell when they want something to eat._ The duo thought with sweatdrops.

He walked behind the kitchen counter to join them again.

Casually, He took a knife and proceeded to prepare another plate of honey toast with admirable speed and agility as his hands moved fluidly and precisely as he sliced the fruit and arranged the dish in an aesthetically pleasing manner within half a minute, his technique looked rather graceful and elegant compared to how they would've done it it almost looked like he was conducting an orchestra with his subtle hand movements, not to mention that not a single ingredient was out of place or toppled over off of its perch.

"Number 2, manual dexterity" Arthur said monotonously. "Not to boast, but I assassinated countless of targets with my barehands simply by either pulling out a piece of their spinal column and making them suffocate or taking their heart out. Practice with your hands is essential to learn such techniques"

At that statement, the trio cringed at the mental image of their seemingly innocent guild master being able to do such things and the fact that they could learn to do such things by simply arranging dishes made it all the more unnerving.

 _Like we'd even want to!_ Was what the trio yelled in their heads.

"Number 3, basic knife-handling skills" Arthur said emotionlessly as he twirled a knife in his hands, going through various grips in an instant with his quick twirls, before throwing at an apple that he threw: pinning it to the wall. "For assassins, versatility when it comes to weapons is a very necessary skill to have, seeing as that you won't always have your weapons with you during every mission."

"They're starting your training with this task not only because these skills are essential for any would-be assassin" Arthur said emotionlessly "but because they want you three to be properly eased into this world, not dragged into it kicking and screaming and if making you do chores is the most effective way to acclimate you to your new environment, then so be it"

With that, Arthur proceeded to put another plate of honey toast in front of the two sisters, completely ignoring the trio's silence as they considered his words, before proceeding to lean against the kitchen counter.

"Very well said, Arthur" Najenda complimented as she paused from eating her meal to address him, before turning to address the newbies. "It's true, Akame and Kurome tend to choose...misleading methods of training new recruits, but given your inexperience, I think its quite appropriate to start with something a bit more down to earth.

"The sooner they take their training seriously, the higher their chances of survival will be and the more effective they'll be when it comes to working as an assassin and as members of my guild" Arthur said emotionlessly, while subtly implying that this was all for his own benefit. "Furthermore, it would have been quite vexing to hear these two constantly ranting during their training sessions, seeing as that I would also be joining them"

"Yeah, it would've been really annoying to train them again tomorrow if they'll just keep on ranting and ranting" Kurome added her two cents as she finished her honey toast...again and begun drinking a chocolate milkshake.

As to where she managed to procure and/or hide said beverage...Arthur and pretty much every member in Night Raid had no clue.

Arthur looked to Akame with a look that silently asked: 'Where did she get that?'.

Akame promptly replied with a shrug that silently said: 'I've been wondering the same thing for the past 7 years'

Spotting their exchange Kurome shot Arthur a glare that said: 'Get your own or else'

"At any rate, it is essential that you learn the bare minimum basics, before you proceed to learn more advanced methods of training. Be sure to take your training more seriously from now on" Akame said monotonously, while dabbing her mouth with a napkin.

At that, they all nodded, albeit with Sayo looking more eager and determined than her male companions, who looked a bit unconvinced and like they wanted to say something.

"Yeah, but we're kind of experts in our respective weapons, so maybe we can...y'know, focus on what were good at instead?" Tatsumi tried again.

"It would probably make a lot more sense, since we'll mostly be relying on our weapons anyway" Ieyasu chose to add with grin.

Sayo simply sighed in exasperation at their insistence, before throwing their guild master and fellow night raid member an apologetic glance.

Arthur stayed quiet as he processed their words. For some reason, those words kept replaying over and over in his thoughts, until his mind was filled with the echoes of his words. Those words stirred up bad memories; ones that he had locked up in some vault deep within the confines of his subconscious, they were memories of his failure.

So deep he was in his thoughts that barely even registered Mine staring at the duo disbelievingly.

"What? You think you can just walts in here and-" Mine's incredulous statement was halted by Arthur's question.

"You want to know what I think?" Arthur asked with his back turned to them. "I think you two haven't the faintest of what being an assassin entails."

Both of the boys immediately felt a chill run down their spines as Arthur's voice and tone took on a much sharper and cold edge. Even Mine chose to keep her mouth shut as she registered the sudden shift in his tone and the atmosphere. Not just her though, the whole table went ramrod still at his sudden shift in tone.

"As someone who has worked as an assassin for roughly 12 years, I can say with absolute certainty that your way of thinking is nothing short of naive, not to mention a mockery to the art of assassination." Arthur said calmly with a voice that betrayed no emotion whatsoever, but it still sent a chill running down the duo's spine. "And should you continue to think like that, I have no doubt that you will die on your first mission."

Clearly, the trio didn't expect this sudden shift in tone, even moreso with the harshness and venom in his words. It's true that Arthur may be a bit blunt and emotionless when it came to his words, but so far it was for good reason; he was being a good guild master to the three of them by setting them straight and he was only speaking out of concern. But, now?

It's almost like they stroke a nerve or flipped his switch or something. With just the few words Tatsumi and Ieyasu spoke, the honey-gold haired boy transitioned from guild master to former assassin.

A change that they were starting to wish they hadn't seen.

"Leone-san" Leone, who had been observing at Arthur's sudden transition with wariness, jumped at being addressed. "I'd like your opinion as a professional assassin"

"Okay then, what do you want to know?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. She couldn't see his face since his hair shadowed his expression, so she was at a loss at where he was going with this.

Leone may be someone who was cheerful and happy-go-lucky most of the time, but even she knew when to take someone seriously and now was definitely one of those times.

"Let's say you've been given an assignment, do you only have one plan going into it?" Arthur asked with his back turned to the duo.

"Of course not, if there's anything you should expect in this line of work its that plan A will almost never work out the way you want it to." Leone said as if it was obvious. "You gotta have back up plans just in case things go south, which almost always happens."

"And what about you, Miss Akame and Miss Kurome" the sisters turned to him, not the least bit perturbed by his behavior and with the younger snacking on cookies, like the tension was nothing at all. "Do you solely rely on your imperial arms and nothing else? Do you believe that your imperial arm and mastery over it is all you'll ever need in this line of work?"

"Having an imperial arm is pretty handy at times, but you can't solely rely on it" Kurome said casually, albeit condescendingly as if it was the most obvious fact in the world. "Imperial arms are still weapons and like every weapon it has weaknesses and drawbacks and if your opponent ever figures that out and exploits it, then you'll be dead if you don't have anything else hidden up your sleeves, like a second blade."

"For me, everything depends on one hit kills and while Murasame gives me an advantage with that, I cannot afford to rely on just my imperial arm, which is why stealth, speed, agility, and other skills are indispensible for any assassin" Akame answered monotonously.

As soon as Akame finished that, the duo already had the faint seeds of realization planted in their minds, but Arthur would make sure that he hammered his point firmly onto their skulls.

He turned to face the two of them, his cape flourished in mid air and the sound of fabric rippling through the air resounded and in the blink of an eye, Arthur was directly in front of them, as if he hadn't been on the other side of kitchen counter the split-second prior.

"Back-up plans are the cornerstone of confidence" he started with a strict tone and sharp narrowed eyes. "And a confident assassin is a successful one. In this line of work, you should never be complacent with mastering only one skill or one weapon, always strive to hone other skills and never rely on only one or two. It is imperative for any would-be assassin to possess an extensive skill-set, versatility and adaptability. You heard the old saying, right? Don't put all of your eggs in one basket!"

His eyes narrowed even further.

"Well, that's exactly what you're doing now." Arthur said emotionlessly, but didn't give them a chance to recover and speak. "Suppose, neither of you had access to a sword or axe? Suppose, one of your would-be targets managed to disarm you? What would happen to you then? How would you finish the mission or are you satisfied with simply dying from your own naivety and jeopardizing your comrades' lives?! A word of advice, you walk a fine line"

He paused as the words sunk in, before speaking in the deafening silence.

"If you cannot learn to do so, if you cannot learn to wield that second blade, then the only conclusion here is that neither of you are worthy of calling yourselves assassins, much less to represent Night Raid" He said in an emotionless voice that chilled their spines, not just from the tone, but from the truth in his words.

He turned around, leaving the room stunned, before heading to the door that led out of the dining room. He paused with his back turned to them.

"Whatever you three may have been before, be it a swordsman, an axman, or an archer, you are all assassins now. Take this training seriously, otherwise, the only thing you'll be sending back to your village is a letter informing them of your passing into the afterlife."

With that, he was gone.

At that, there was deafening silence that seemed to last for hours. The duo had been stunned in shock at the reality of his words and the gravity of the situation they were truly in. None of their usual cheeriness and cockiness could be found. Their female friend, Sayo, looked at them with concern in her eyes. She wanted to comfort her friends and say something to them, she even wanted to counter Arthur's words, but she couldn't think of anything to say, since not only was Arthur a supossed virtuoso at this line of work, but she knew that she had no argument to the reality of their guild master's words.

For their part, majority of Night Raid didn't seem all that fazed by the content of Arthur's little monologue, if anything they looked like they had just confirmed something, probably whether or not Arthur's claims of being a former assassin was legit, but after what they just witnessed they had no doubt.

Arthur was definitely an assassin.

Najenda simply lit a cigarette with her eyes closed in thoughtful silence. She took a puff and blew it out, before speaking and addressing the two, who seemed to have snapped out of their stupor.

"While Arthur's words may have been rather blunt and harsh" Najenda started as the two looked at her. "I can't exactly deny that he has made several important points, nor can I say that his words were necessarily false. You two need to take this seriously, for your sake. Being an assassin isn't a simple as swinging a sword or axe around and taking lives, you must be able to quickly adapt to any situation, as well as, to be prepared for any contingencies. In that regard, having an extensive skill set is very useful" her expression softened as she regarded their downcast expressions. "Take the gist of his words to heart because I can tell that he had your best interest in mind when he said that. Just like Arthur, the last thing we want is to lose our newest members"

And at that, the mood lightened considerably as some of the members of night raid offered their encouragements to the downtrodden duo, which inevitably gave Sayo the chance to comfort them as well.

In the end, the assassins managed to cheer the two newbies up.

They may have been assassins, but they were more like a family than anything else.

...

...Later that night, Arthur's room...

Arthur couldn't sleep.

Try as he might, all he could do at the moment was stare at the ceiling as he lied down on his bed with his eyes wide awake and his right arm rested over hia forehead. He was completely and utterly puzzled by this strange bout of insomnia, as well as, what might've caused it.

It's true that being surrounded by an entire house of seven assassins may have kept him on his toes and was probably the reason for his restless mind, but somehow he doubted that...

His brows scrunched together and his frown deepened when a thought occured to him.

 _Am I feeling guilty? If so, what would I feel guilty for?_ He mused to himself, before he recalled the events that happened at the dinner table. His frown deepened as the recollection flowed through his mind, before he came to a conclusion.

"There's no reason for me to feel guilt for those two, for I have committed no offense to them whatsoever." Arthur said to himself emotionlessly. "If anything, I set them straight and made them realize the gravity of their situation, along with, how naive their way of thinking was, which will likely increase their chances of survival in this line of work. For all intents and purposes, I helped them." Arthur reasoned to himself with no emotion whatsoever.

Having convinced himself of that, he closed his eyes in hopes of catching a few winks of sleep.

...Arthur's dream...

 _Yeah, but we're kind of experts in our respective weapons, so maybe we can...y'know, focus on what were good at instead?_

 _It would probably make a lot more sense, since we'll mostly be relying on our weapons anyway._

 _Arthur found himself in cold darkness and the only thing he could hear were the words of Tatsumi and Ieyasu echoing through the endless darkness. Those words kept on repeating and resonating through the endless sea of black and with each reiteration the words grew louder and seemed to hone in and emphasize specific words._

 _...focus on what were good at..._

 _...relying on our weapons..._

 _Those words stirred up memories that he locked away deep in an abyss of his subconscious; memories that were stored behind a mental wall that prevented it from reaching the forefront of his mind and consciousness. However, as those key words continued to repeat and get louder, he found those memories steadily breaking through the wall he kept them behind in, as if the words gave them the power to break through._

 _Slowly and steadily, he felt mental wall that he kept those memories hidden in break and crack, bit and pieces flying to the forefront of his consciousness._

 _At the same time, the darkness that surrounded him slowly cracked, almost as if acting out what he was thinking. The sound of Tatsumi and Ieyasu's voice grew even louder, reaching a crescendo of sorts as the cracks in the darkness began to travel through the endless darkness, forming a complex spiderweb of lines reminiscent of a broken mirror._

 _Arthur watched emotionlessly as the shattering glass and the mantra reached a climax._

 _The endless darkness shattered in time with the voice's highest crescendo. Pieces of pitch black flew towards him and behind the pitch black scenery he found a light that grew more and more intense with each passing second. It got to the point where he had to look away with closed eyes and raised arms in an attempt to block the light's intense brightness. As the light enveloped the darkness the cold shivering grasp dissipated and was replaced by a welcoming warmth that he took comfort in._

 _The light slowly died down, but the welcoming warmth remained. The words also stopped and was replaced by the sounds of birds chirping._

 _Curiously, he cracked open an eye to see where he was now._

 _He was in the middle of a forest, the same one that he spent more than a decade in. As soon as he realized that, he started walking through the forest in search of something. He walked as if following a mental map of the place for a few minutes, before he came across a loose circle of 15 young pubescent girls and boys wearing cloaks._

 _His eyes maintained their neutral gaze, but held a glimmer of happiness in them. He walked towards them and as he did so, he managed to hear a bit of their conversation._

 _"You don't have to worry about a thing, Arthur!" Said a 12 year old boy with brown hair and red eyes who held halberd with a large blade proudly. "This mission is gonna go off without a hitch, no one can beat me and my beautiful Tristana!" The 12 year old said as he hugged the halberd closely._

 _"The fact that you actually named your weapon is more than a little unnerving...and creepy, Ares" said another 12-year old boy with dark plum-colored hair and amber eyes, who was holding a great sword with a large and heavy blade. The surrounding boys and girls laughed at that, which made Ares glare "But I'm gonna have to agree with Ares, we've spent the better part of 3 years mastering our weapons, so it isn't likely for some thugs to beat us" he continued confidently._

 _"I'm just saying that learning a few more skills could come in handy on missions. You could almost always catch your target off guard that way, plus you could be an all-around assassin, Fredrick" A 12 year old version of Arthur said with a childish smile, while swinging his legs around from his perch on a tree branch. "And you also get to show-off a bit"_

 _"Sad to say we don't really have the gift of learning and mastering anything we want in less than a day, mister multi-talented" Fredrick teased lightly with a laugh._

 _"What other skills do you suggest we learn, master assassin Arthur?" Ares asked playfully. "Should we try learning the art of seduction? How to lure in the ladies?" Ares asked with waggling eyebrows._

 _Arthur blushed vibrantly and sputtered out excuses, much to their laugh._

 _"Don't worry so much, Arthur. We're gonna do fine! Afterall, we did promise that no matter what we'd always come back from our missions, right?" Ares reasoned, before standing up and hefting his halberd with a cheeky grin._

 _"Yes" Arthur agreed with a happy smile on his face and a light chuckle._

 _"That's why were gonna come back tonight. You should relax and let us take care of our fair share of missions, we can't always rely on you to do everything, right?" Fredrick said as he hefted his great sword with ease. "Also, we never failed to come back before."_

 _"That's true" conceded Arthur with a bright smile._

 _12 year old Arthur smiled happily, while chuckling at the sight. The real Arthur, on the other hand, couldn't help, but placed a hand on his face as his shoulders shook uncontrollably. He knew what was going to come next and that's why he shoved all these memories away._

 _"You idiots..." He mutterd under his breath as the two boys headed off and the small circle waved their goodbyes._

 _He wanted to wake up. Now! He didn't want to see this. He didn't want to relive that day again, but it seemed that his own mind had other ideas._

 _The bright light illuminated again, gradually fading and obscuring the scene that played out before him, not that he could tell since he was still covering his eyes and bracing himself for what was going to come next._

 _The light died down and even if he wasn't looking he still had a very vivid visulization of the scene playing out before him. How could he even forget? No matter how hard he tried to shove those memories away, he could still remember everything in perfect detail. Try as he might, he would never forget his failure that day._

 _The 12 year old Arthur knelt before the corpses of both Fredrick and Ares. Their bodies were severely wounded and caked with their own blood, their weapons laid in their hands, broken, damaged and mangled. The 12 year old could do nothing more than stare in disbelief at the sight of his friends lying dead before him._

 _After a few more seconds, his younger self dropped to his knees and not a moment sooner, he heard his younger self let out a wail of pure misery, despair, and agony into the cool night sky as he lamented the loss of his friends. Tears streamed down his face as he shook his head in despair, while pounding the ground with his clenched fists._

 _As if to mimic the action of his younger self, the real Arthur let out his own whimpers as he knelt down on the grass from where he watched the whole thing at the sidelines. His shoulders shook and he struggled to contain his tears with his hands as he listened to his younger self's wails in misery._

 _It had been so long...5 whole years and yet the pain still felt so fresh...like it just happened yesterday. Normally, he wouldn't allow himself to breakdown like this, but...he could make an exception._

 _Just like that, the wails of both the real and younger Arthur resonated through the clearing for what would feel like hours, until eventually, the real Arthur managed to compose himself enough to stand up again. He could not afford to be weak...not now, of all times._

 _With one final glance at the scene, he turned his back and piece by piece, little by little, the scenery was gradually covered by the same endless sea of darkness at the beginning of his dream. As if the scene was being covered by a giant pitch black jigsaw puzzle, the scene gradually blackened, before fully disappearing under the wall of black._

 _With that, the memory was locked away again._

...

...

 **Okay, raise your hand and review if you thought that Arthur was more than a little harsh on the trio of newbies, but I think the little dream scene would clear up the reason why he's so harsh on them, right?**

 **Anyhoo, if you want a more concrete basis for Arthur's androgynous appearance look up a picture of Nagisa Shiota with his hair down and while you're at it you can look forward to an upcoming crossover fic between Akame ga Kill and Assassination classroom, so if you're a fan of either series, you can look forward to the story "The Blue-Eyed Killer" coming next week at latest.**

 **Okay, that's all I have to say for now, press the follow/favorite button if you want to see more and feel free to leave a review. I'll see you all next time.**


End file.
